


Claustrophobic (Isaac Lahey)

by SupernaturalDreamer



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Abuse, Claustrophobia, Domestic Violence, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Hurt, Injury, Phobias, Self-Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-13
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-12 00:30:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15983750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SupernaturalDreamer/pseuds/SupernaturalDreamer
Summary: When I was looking for something a little more hard hitting to get my fix of the tragic side of Isaac all I could find was a load of Isaac is a puppy and Stiles is his mama sort of thing. Nothing against them, but I was looking for something I could imagine as connon, but maybe something that had licence to get darker than the show could. I didn't find anything, so as the saying goes. If you want something doing, you have to do it yourself.





	1. Chapter 1

Isaac adjusted the birthday cards on the dark oak mantle piece in his bedroom, he picked up the one furthest to the right to examine the pearl-effect number eight on the front.  
This particular one was his favourite, his English Literature teacher; Ms Wills, had given it to him on his birthday a week earlier. He smiled lightly as he placed it back above the fireplace, only this time he put it dead centre.

"Isaac! Get the door!" he heard his dad call up from the living room.

Isaac glanced at the comics on the bed, making sure they were all still there before racing down to the door.

"Thanks Dad!" he called as he swung the front door open.

"Where were you? I rang the bell like... five times or something!" The pale boy with dark hair huffed as he shoved past and headed for the stairs.

"Oh come on, you know how hard it is to hear the door from my room." Isaac groaned as he slammed the heavy slab if mahogany behind him and raced after the boy. "Dad, me and Matt are gonna be in my room if you need us!"

They made their way to his room, it was nicely decorated if quite small, but the size didn't really bother him, he was fine with small rooms, he'd always had the box-rooms in all their houses.  
The majority of it was taken up by the bed, he would have put a linen chest at the foot of it but because of the fireplace he didn't have the room for one. The colour scheme was generally shades of brown ranging from quite light to a medium dark.

"Why don't you ask for your brothers? He won't need it in the army. It would be a waste really."

"He doesn't even let me go near it, do you really think he'd agree to that?" Isaac laughed. "Did you bring them? Here are the ones you wanted."

Matt dumped the pile of comics next to Isaacs. "Is this the whole first edition?"

"I said it was didn't I?" Isaac huffed and spread them out on what little floor space he had. "See? From one all they way through to 57."

An hour or two passed while the two boys sat in comfortable silence reading their respective comics.

Isaac reached over to move the curtain aside at the sound of a truck pulling up.

"Huh... I didn't even realize Dad had gone out. Looks like he's having a meeting with the team."

Matt leaned over the pile of comics to lean on the window sill, the light of the sunset giving color to his usually pale complection. "Not the swim team?"

Isaac sighed, "No. The Lacrosse team." He said sarcastically.

"ugh... I hate the swim team, they're just a bunch of dicks."

There was a firm knock on the door that had the boys scattering from the window. Isaac cleared his throat, "Ugh, hmm, yeah?" he called.

In popped Mr Lahey "Boys, no matter what, you stay up here, you hear? You want any water or anything, Isaac you text me OK?" He looked stressed, but with an aire of excitement that overshadowed that.

"Yeah, no problem."

The hours slipped by, and eventually Matt seemed to be going stir-crazy, the music had been too loud to concentrate for ages. From his room they could hear the girls squealing and the boys shouting and laughing.

"I need to go downstairs."

"Matt, no, you heard what Dad said."

"It'll be fine, he won't even notice me." the paler kid insisted.

"I don't know..." before Isaac could say anymore his friend had disappeared

-

Isaac woke in a cold sweat, his breathing laboured, his ribs hurt and he had a splitting headache. His eyes darted around the tiny room, it looked the same as it had all those years ago, the difference now was that he hated it, hated how small it was, not least of all because he was now something like three times bigger, but mostly it was the feeling of suffocating. If he focused in the dim light he could imagine the walls were closing in around him. He scrambled over to the window, rusty now after years of neglect, he tried his best to open it but it wouldn't budge and he was begining to hyperventilate. He knew he couldn't open his bedroom door for fear of his father hearing. If that hadn't been a problem he would just prefer to leave his door open to make it feel like less of an issue... but if that was the case it would probably have meant that he still wouldn't have minded the tiny room, and all of his problems just wouldn't have existed in the first place.  
But that wasn't the case in real life. In real life he felt like his chest was going to cave in if he didn't get a breath of fresh air, and the window was stuck.

"Come on, come on. Please." One last, risky, shove with his shoulder and the window flew open and he was hit with a cool autumn breeze. The downside was that with the relief of fresh air came crippling fear that his dad might have heard the commotion, the window had released with a loud popping sound.  
He knelt in total silence as he listened to the sounds of the night.  
Only when he heard the squealing of metal as his father moved to get off of his old steel bed did he realize he'd been holding his breath. He turned to the window which was now open by about twenty centimeters. Which would he regret more, leaving it open for when his dad came in and ultimately being terrified, or closing it for now and pretending to Mr Lahey that he had been asleep the whole time and maybe avoiding the reason he was so afraid of his small room.  
The sweat ran down his face in streams but he was running out of time, he lunged forward and yanked the window in and dived back under the too-heavy covers.

The door swung open and his dad stormed in, ripping the covered off he grabbed the fifteen year old by the shoulders and threw him to the ground between his bed and his fireplace.

"Isaac! What the hell do you think you're doing?" He screamed. The teenager was petrified, unable to find any words.

"Answer me boy!" the words landed with a sharp kick to his shin, Isaac wailed in pain.  
"Nothing Dad, nothing! I was asleep, I don't know what you're talking about!" He could feel his heart racing at the lie.

"You think I'm stupid? What were you doing to the window?" He said as he knelt on the bed and grabbed the window handle and shoved it open. The anger radiating from the man was heavy in the air, suddenly his movements became very deliberate and slow.

"What's this Isaac? Did you open that?"

"No! I-" Isaac began.

"I glued it shut you idiot! Don't lie to me!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. This time Isaac didn't cower as much as he had been, the news was just too shocking.

"What do you mean... you glued it shut?" The teenager asked carefully.

"Are you stupid?" Mr Lahey roared.

Isaac was done, this was going too far, he could take the bearings, he could take the hot coffees he made wrong being spilled on him, but this? This was something else.  
"Are you?" He yeld, standing up now he was towering above the older man.  
"What if there was a fire? Huh? What if my only way out was through THAT window?" Mr Lahey seemed small all of a sudden. Isaac hadn't even heard himself shout like this before so he could only imagine how shocked his dad might be. In the end, he still is the man's son. It shouldn't come as too much of a suprise that he can be just as loud.  
All of a sudden white light flashed, obscuring the boys vision entirely, then the pain hit; he was on the floor again and his eyesocket felt like it had been struck with a hammer.

"Don't you, Ever, speak to me like that again! Get up!" Suddenly Isaac was being dragged down the stairs towards the basement.

"No, dad, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" He pleaded.

"I don't want to hear a word from you until I let you out for your shift tomorrow." He said as he threw Isaac down the concrete stairs. "Get the chains!"

"My shift tomo-" the boy stumbled to his feet, the pain in his ribcage almost made him pass out, his vision going dark as he got his balance back. "You can't mean... but that's at midnight tomorrow?" he said as he picked up the chains in a daze. His father snatched them from his hands and and dragged him to the old, grimy fridge freezer.

"Damn right it is son."

"But, I have school, they'll notice I'm gone!" He begged.

There was a moment where his father's anger was temporarily replaced with something perhaps worse, spite. "Notice YOU? Gone? They wouldn't notice you if you dropped dead in the middle of the playing field." The graying man smirked, grabbing Isaac by the back of the shirt he forced him into the metal casket and locked the chains around it.

The panic was like nothing he'd ever experienced before. He'd been here before, hundreds of time now since the incident with Matt, whatever that had been, and more so since the death of his brother. But this was different, before now he knew that if he shouted loud enough or long enough he'd have had a chance at his dad letting him out, out of boredom or something, anything, but this time? This time was different. He'd fucked up. It was his fault, he shouldn't have said what he did.  
The small container was starting to get stuffy with his frantic breathing and he could feel his clothes start to soak through with the sweat and condensation. He felt like his head was going to explode with the pressure of the pure terror he felt. He must have been there for about an hour before his hyperventilating made him pass out, this might have been a welcome occurance if he could have gauranteed he'd slept through the majority of the ordeal but as it stood he now had no idea how long it had been, seconds? Minutes? Years maybe? there was no way of knowing.  
He screamed and hit the off white walls with all the force be could muster, and as he expected nothing happened. In his panic he continued with all his might, his ears rang with the sound of his fist hitting the lid. He tried clawing at the lock. He tried turning around on to his front and pushing with his back against the lid, but nothing worked. Isaac's face was dripping with the mixture of the tears streaming down his face and the sweat heading down it. He tried once more with his back, but there wasn't even enough room for him to stretch his limbs out to their full length. He heard an odd noise, like a small squeal and for a moment he thought something had been moved outside in the room, but the more he thought about it the more he came to the conclusion that he himself had made the noise. Slumping forward he wrapped his arms around his head and sobbed into the darkness, he was short off breath now and his headache from crying was getting worse and worse. He was struck by another bought of panic as he realized not only was it sickeningly warm, he was beginning to find it difficult to pull in breaths, it didn't feel like the panic that was stopping him this time, it just felt like there wasn't enough air in the freezer.

"Dad! Please, I-I think the air's running out! I'm sorry, please I've learnt my lesson! It was my fault I shouldn't have touched the window. I swear-" He coughed involuntarily. "-I swear it won't happen again." there was no reply. Not a sound escaped the dark room beyond his cage. He clawed desperately at the opening and shoved his face to the crack, he could just about feel the cold air beyond, but it was tarnished by the waves of heat that rushed past him out of the container. He'd assumed it was hot in there but the slight feel of cold air informed him that it was actually boiling inside.

Things were getting worse, lights flashed before his eyes as he sat trembling for what felt like years. He could feel his fingers had pruned with the moisture. He stared into the darkness of the fridge, unable even to see his hand Infront of his face. The panic was somehow dwindling the more he could feel his consciousness slip.  
"Don't..don't fall asleep." He muttered to himself. He slowly shuffled to take his tshirt off in an effort to cool down and keep himself busy, but it clung to his fame the more it stuck the more panic set in so he tried to slow down every more to trick himself into not noticing he was getting tangled up in the dripping wet grey cloth. His hand that he was using to steady himself off of the floor of the freezer slipped on the textured surface and liquid had pooled from the condensation of his breath, he managed it eventually but he felt like his heart was going to explode from the assault on his emotions, and slowly he started to drift unconscious, too slow for his exhausted mind to realise there was an issue.

The hours slipped by with Isaac not quite being asleep, but also not quite being awake. It was like limbo, his eyes were partially open but it didn't make a difference there was nothing to see, until suddenly through blurry vision lights danced in the slight crack at the freezer opening, and a flurry of sound attacked his dulled senses. Someone was running down the stairs shouting something.

"Isaac Isaac? Say something!" He could hear the panic in the person's voice, he wondered absently when his brother had gotten back from the war. The person fumbled with the chains as though they were trying to unlock them but just couldn't figure it out, or kept slipping.  
"Isaac? Answer me, you hear!"

"Camden?" Isaac asked, but no sound came out, and his lips barely moved.

Suddenly the lid flew open and the cold air attacked his exposed skin, which was visibly drenched. His hair clung to his face, the weight of the moisture holding even his curly brown locks down.  
His eyes still didn't move from the point they had been staring at for god knows how long. He could have been dead for how little his body reacted to the new stimulants.

"Son? Get up! Come on." it was his father, somehow the panic seemed genuine. The older man tried to reach in and grab the boy but his hand couldn't get a purchase on the slippery skin, and still Isaac couldn't react to anything, he didn't have the energy. Mr Lahey disappeared, and when he returned he had a towel in hand and he wrapped it around his son and dragged him out onto the dusty concrete floor. He was then dragged all the way up the stairs and to the bathroom all the while his father tried to talk to him in a mixture of soothing "You're going to be alright"'s and threatening "You can't tell anyone, you hear? It was an accident. I was busy, I didn't remember." It was a struggle for the man to even drag Isaac, with how big he was now, but eventually he was thrown into the shower room and his father started tugging his trousers off before hurriedly throwing shower gel on the boy and hosing him down with the shower head on too cold. This brought Isaac back to his senses and he gasped with the shock of the ice water hitting his skin, but his vision instantly appeared to sway and he fell back, hitting his head hard on the tiled floor.

"Come on you wuss, you're just being dramatic." Mr Lahey said, but his voice was shaky he could see this was no act, but he also didn't want it to be true either.  
Suddenly Isaac began throwing up seemingly for no reason at all, Mr Lahey looked horrified. Isaac thought to himself bitterly; I hope this scares you. I hope you feel terrified even if it is just because you're afraid you'll get caught.  
The older man ran out of the room and again returned with towels and some of the boys gym clothes. He washed Isaacs face and began toweling him down from head to toe, he got his son dressed and then immediately he was on the phone.

"Hi, yeah I need an ambulance right away, my son, he... I found him unconscious in the hallway outside of the bathroom. He wasn't breathing."

Eventually the call ended and the older man knelt down and held Isaac by each side of his face. "I know you're not stupid kid, you heard what I said on the phone. You either say nothing, or you agree with me, end of. Do you understand?" Tears rand down his cheeks as they, but he nodded anyway.

"He must have passed out because the next time he came to he was in a really uncomfortable bed, dressed in a light blue gown.

"what the-" he began, only to suddenly be made aware of the presence of a small woman, with light brow skin and wild dark brown hair, stood by his bed side.

"Oh Isaac, you're awake. That's great. How are you feeling sweety?" she said in a smooth calming tone.

"Do...Do I know you?" He responded in a daze.

"No, sweety, but I'm nurse McCall and I've been looking after you whilst you've been here. Can you tell me what happened?" She asked carefully.

Worry set in and Isaac looked around frantically for his father.  
"My-my dad, where is he?" he asked as he tried to stand up.

"You've been here a few hours now kid, I'm not sure if he's still here. I could check for you after we have a talk if you'd like?" she offered. Something about her voice was off, like she was trying to force him into a situation where he would talk to her right now, like it was urgent.

"A talk? About what?" he asked cautiously.  
  
"Well, you know, like about what happened? About your eye. You know that sort of thing." she suggested timidly.

"My eye?" The lady, Ms McCall passed his a small mirror and true enough there it was, a massive back-eye where his father had punched him.

"I-I don't remember. I think I fell. I slipped on the wet tiles after my shower." I lied.

The sweet lady looked nervously at the open door, she walked over and closed it whist drawing the blinds. "Honey, it's not just your eye. You have bruises everywhere, and the blood on your hands... Is everything alright? Please remember you could have died today, the state you arrived in, I'm shocked that there aren't more signs of your ordeal. If you're... protecting someone, please it's not worth it, your safety is more important. No matter how much they mean to you. You understand what I'm saying?" she pleaded.

The urge to tell this kind woman what was happening was over whelming, he opened his mouth, unsure really of what he was going to tell her, when all of a sudden the door clattered open.

"Isaac!" his blood ran cold.

"Dad." he replied with such a lack of emotion it even surprised him.

"You're such a clutz, have you been telling this nurse what you did?" he implored, a knowing, and worried, look on his face.

"Ah... No. I just woke up, I didn't have time." he replied in a monotone that grated at the tension in the room. He wasn't helping, if he was going to tell he just should come out with it. If he isn't he should just play along. He told himself.  
His fathers eye twitched slightly behind his glasses.

"Well nurse, thank you for taking care of my son. But he starts his night shift in about half an hour so we should start heading off."

"His night shift?" She sounded shocked. "No, in his state he shouldn't be anywhere but the hospital, let alone at work!" she declared.

"Excuse me? I've been informed by your superiors that he's well enough to leave. With all due respect, I think I'll listen to them." he turned around and started heading out of the room, he swooped up the clothes that were neatly folded on the chair. "Come on Isaac"  
The boy wasn't in the mood to argue about anything, so he followed knowing full-well he was dressed in nothing but a hospital garb.  
The lady stood in the doorway watching them as they left, a boy Isaac recognised as being the captain of the lacrosse team stopped next to the lady, who now had tears in her eyes.  
"Oh Scott-" was the last thing he heard before he was out of ear shot.

The drive to the graveyard was uncomfortable to say the least, he got changed on the backseat.

"What- did you tell the nurse anything?" The questing was presented calmer than Isaac was used to.

"What does it matter?" He was done with trying to stay on his dads good side, all of this came from opening one tiny window.

"Well it uh, it matters because it- or I, well-" He'd never seem his father so tongue-tied before, somehow he still had an aura of confidence so it wasn't a major win, but it was something.

"Did they tell you I almost died? Did they tell you I Could have died?" I remember the shower dad. You took me to the shower to cover up your tracks BEFORE you phoned the ambulance." The car pulled up. "And now you expect me to protect you?" he asked as he got out and slammed the door shut.

-

Isaac spent hours digging the newest grave, which he was late on due to obvious reasons. He stopped for a second to examine the black-eye he'd been generously given, by the man who was supposed to protect him, in the wing mirror of the machine he was operating. When something, a noise perhaps, drew his attention to a distant grave-...


	2. PTSD

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isaac unwillingly recalls recent events, and attempts to understand what is happening to him post-Bite.

This is a Place holder sentance

The noise was close to unbearable, the drums of thirty one heart beats were mixed with the scratching of equally as many pens on paper, the sound of police sirens somewhere in the distance, the breathing was the worst; no pattern, constantly changing, broken up by sniffles or coughs.  
Think of something else. Isaac told himself.

-  
It's dark, he's stumbling after the figure of the man who practically threw him out of the grave.

Was he the one who tipped the machine? What does he mean he can help? How? With what?

"Wait! Who are you? Where are we going?" His breathing is laboured as he traverses the rough uneven terrain, he's not unfit (being on the lacrosse team) yet he still finds it difficult to keep the black-haired man in his sight. He glances around; he can barely see anything, the half-moon isn't giving enough light to see properly. He glances at his hands and can only just seen them for the pale skin reflecting the moonlight.  
That familiar sense of panic starts to creep in as he stumbles in the direction he last saw the man going he quietly begs for him to slow down, it isn't meant to be heard, it comes out too weak for that.

"Slow... Down." He whispers through ragged breaths. He's alone. He turns slowly, trying to make out anything in the heavy darkness. It's too similar, he thinks, to the dark of the freezer. His heart starts to race, it's all he can hear, his breathing starts to get faster until again he's hyperventilating.  
He's begining to think that maybe this was a trap after all, he wasn't sure why he'd followed in the first place, not even the teachers new what was going on at home, so how was this guys supposed to know anything? And why was he being so vague?  
He clutches at his chest as his vision sways, his knees buckle but before he hits the ground he's hoisted into a standing position again.

"Oh wow... You really do have issues." the pale man mumbles as he tried to look Isaac in the eyes, his expression is one of confusion.

"You don't say?" Isaac says back sarcastically.

"So, what is this? You're asthmatic?" He asks, it doesn't sound harsh in any way, just curious. Like Isaac is some sort of pet project that this guy has to work the kinks out of.

"I'm not answering anything till you tell me your name." His brave words aren't really mirrored in his behaviour as he trembles with fear.

"Are you scared? Of me?" The man asks, tilting his head to make up for the direction Isaac is tilting.

"Of you? No. Should I be?" he's puzzled by the man's assumption.

"My name is Derek. I know bits of what's been happening to you." Derek glances to his left, towards a parting in the dense tree line. Isaac looks over to what Derek sees, it's a house on a hill, but it looks abandoned.

"All you have to do, is find me here after school today. I'll help you with your problems. I promise."

Without thinking Isaac agrees.

-

It was unbearable, but Isaac felt himself getting over the effect of being able to hear everything around him. He had had no idea about any of this before two days ago but even for what he had imagined since, he thought to himself that he was ajusting faster than he thought he was going to, even now he was learning to make most things background chatter.

"Isaac? Isaac, can you hear me? Is everything alright with you?" He looked up to see his geography teacher stood not far from him looking extremely worried. "Are you feeling ill?" He turned around, everyone had stopped writing and we're now looking directly at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said quietly. A girl from across the Isle pointed to his desk. "Are you sure? I've been trying to get your attention for ages, you uhh... did that a while ago. With your... well I didn't see that part anyway." Isaac was shocked to look down and see that part of the desk had been turned to splinters. "Sorry... I didn't realize I-" The teacher cut him off before he could finish, not that he had any idea of what he'd planned on saying. "Isaac, I'm not sending you to the principles because you're not in trouble. Instead I want to send you to the guidance councelor because I think maybe you're just not feeling too well, and that's completely fine." Isaac wanted to say he was completely okay, better than usual really, but that would mean he'd have to explain the desk. He nodded and as he got up from his seat he reached for his bag, the girl that spoke before followed his hand with her eyes intently, the confusion on her face was obvious  
. Isaac left the classroom in a hurry with the teacher wishing him luck as he passed. As he walked down the hallways he conciders not going to see the councilor but he knew that would be a mistake so he headed for her room, he was about to knock the door when it flew open anyway.

"Lahey! I wasn't expecting you, did we have an appointment?" The tall lady with the soft caramel coloured skin asked, tilting her head to one side as she did so.

"Ah, no. No we didn't but-" He started to gesture towards his classroom with the intention of saying how he'd been sent by his teacher, but last minute he decided against that realising that he'd have to explain why she's sent him. "-I just... thought I'd drop in. Open door policies right?"

"Right." she agreed, gesturing for him to come in. "SO... Is there anything specifically on your mind at the moment? You've never come to see me before. Even though I feel it might be long over due." She said carefully, clearly trying to gauge his reaction. He paused, probably too long to be subtle.

"Nothing really, I don't feel like I've ever needed it." He lied, he'd needed this for a long time, but his father would never have allowed it.

"Then why are you here now Isaac? Do you feel like the thing that was stopping you come before is... gone, now?" she asked, it was strange, she was right it did feel one like he'd have to worry about what his dad would do anymore. It must have been the bite.

"Nothing's really changed, I don't even really know why I came." Something in his answer seemed almost to disappoint the lady, not in a way where she was now disappointed in him, more like she's been looking for something in his answer but she hadn't found it.

"That's fine, maybe that's what we're going to find out today. I'll start by asking you some questions seeing as you don't have anywhere you'd currently like to start. What's your favourite colour?" She asked casually.

"What? Why in that -" He started. "Just answer the question." she responded without missing a beat.

"Purple, I guess. Purple's alright."

"What's your favourite memory?"

" Something with my mom."

"He specific." She said bluntly. Isaac could feel the pressure mounting, but her heart rate never wavered. "We went to the beach once, before my brother finished High School, maybe just when he'd started, my Mom was still alive and it was just fun. Calm." He corrected.

"Good. Good. Now, tell me about your father." The command was given so calmly and so confidently that he was caught off-guard for a second. "What? Why?" He stuttered.

"Is telling me about him going to be an issue?"

"Uh, no. Not really. He, uhh, he's a good teacher. He's really good at getting results. He's a strong character." He rationalised.

"I meant more between you and him." she persisted.

"Well, that uhh... Well he's-" suddenly the bell went and Isaac was up and out of the door before he even knew it. "Thanks for the talk, I need to get to practice now though." He could feel her disappointed gaze on the back of his head as he walked away but she didn't try to stop him.

  
He arrived at his house late, he recalled the fight he'd had with his dad the night before, the sound of smashing glass still rung in his ears.  
_Probably more of an emotional echo than anything real_. He thought to himself. What was real was that his dad had watched as the sound on his face healed. Isaac hadn't been home that night, and even now he couldn't bring himself to open the door.  
He took a deep shaky breath, his hand clenched over the handle with his knuckles turned white.

-  
"So if I could help you with anything in life, what would you have me help you with?" the shorter, but somehow a thousand times more imposing, man asks off handedly.

"I-I don't know what you mean." He stutters, his mildly unusual accent coming through.

"Sure you do. You know exactly what I'm asking. Why did you follow me last night? You had to have a reason, I offered you a vague sense of hope and you lapped it up. So what did you think I was going to help you with?"  
Isaac is silent for a while, untill he eventually whispers; half in fear of the figure in the dark offering him an unknown solution, half in fear of what will happen once he says. "My dad..." it comes out so quiet he's sure no-one hears him it, he barely does himself. He looks up to see that Derek isn't in front of him anymore, his heart is beating uncontrollably and he can hear his blood rushing through his head, he's about to call out to Derek when he feels breath on the back of his neck.

"Your father? You want him... dead?" the voice tempts.

"What? No! No that's not it, I don't want that."

"Then what?"

"I... want to-" he stops mid sentence, he can't bring himself to say what he's thinking; that would be finally admitting it out loud.

"Tell me!" Isaac jumps in shock, the voice is different now, rough, ragged, more like an animal's growl than a human speaking.

"I don't want to be afraid anymore. Of anything." a tear traces its way down his face. The silence is audible, Isaac feels as though the forest itself has gone silent in anticipation, and he can somehow hear the smile the man is wearing behind him. Derek moves silently to be in front of the boy.  
Isaac forces his eyes, which so far have been wide and focused on the distance, to look the man in the eyes. True enough he is smiling it's a knowing smile, but his face is different; monstrous in appearance, his iris' glow blood red, but somehow Isaac isn't scared of him, he's curious.

"Are you scared of this?" Derek gestures with a clawed had to his face.

"No."

"No?" Derek tilts his head. "Then what?"

Isaac swallows hard and drags his eyes around the room, from one pitch black unknown to the next, the windows just blackholes for all it matters. Derek's expression changes, it's softer now, less confident and mischievous, suddenly it's replaced with concern and sadness.

"The dark..." he mutters to himself. "That's what it was yesterday as well... Isaac." the monster looks back towards the boy. "That I can definitely fix. It comes with concequiences though. People will try to harm you because of it, do you understand?"

"I don't care." Isaac can imagine what it is now; to become like Derek, he doesn't know exactly what that means, but it doesn't matter.

Derek nods once and steps towards Isaac, his teeth elongated with razor sharp points, and suddenly the pain sets in, it's unbearable, never before was he aware of his own veins but now that it feels as though molten metal is sliding slowly through them from the point of the bite, he can feel everything. He hits the floor, his eyes screwed shut, and before he knows it the pain is gone all that is left now is a dull ache. His breathing comes out in heavy bursts.

"Isaac? Can you hear me Isaac?" He nods but doesn't open his eyes. "Good, now open them." He follows the command slowly and to his suprise... there is no darkness, there is no corner he cannot see into, there is no unknown. He sits for a while, unable to think about or respond to Derek as he asks his questions. He's free.

. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you could leave any feedback that would be great, even if it's just three words of encouragement. Thank you!


	3. Well.. That was your fault.

The door swung open to reveal that the room beyond was dark, Isaac could sense no-one has been home today, he didn't quite know which sense he was using it could have been his sense of smell, maybe it was that the sent wasn't as pungent.

"Dad?" He said allowed, it came out odd; as though he was half trying to raise his voice, half trying not to be heard, his face was barely illuminated by the moonlight bouncing off of the door, his eyebrow raised in a uniqely 'Isaac' expression of fear, his lips slightly parted, half afraid of finding his father and having to explain what happened yesturday, half worried he wouldn't find him at all. There was nothing, not a sound. The car wasn't there either...

Did he come home last night? He can't still be looking for me.

In the distance he heard the ring of police sirens getting louder. He stood in the doorway a while, listening.

[-We're on route to the Lahey home address now. Over.] He hear's the sheriff announce.

[Does anyone have eyes on the kid?] someone's distorted voice asks over the radio.

[Now let's remember, Lahey's son is Not, I repeat; Not a suspect... yet. For all we know he's a victim.] The sheriff sounds tense, as if he were trying to calmly convince a pack of hungry dog that in front of them isn't in fact a juicy steak, and might just be nothing.  
Isaac was frozen in place, a tear traced it's way down his face as realization of what must have happened set it. His father was dead or severely injured. Isaac new the sheriff's department had had a streak of unsolved cases that were beginning to get on top of them, the department must have been desperate at this point for an easy open and closed case, and the first thing that crossed their desk was this one. Isaac was sure the sheriff had cottoned on to the abuse he'd been subject to when he lied in the graveyard. The evidence was against him, cop sees kid being beaten up by abusive parent, cop goes and tells other cops, then said abusive parent turns up injured/dead. It's a no-brainer.  
Isaac had wasted too much time.

Even humans could probably hear the sirens by now. he thought to himself as he slammed the front door shut behind himself and ran through the back garden and over the fence, he ran for miles without needing to take a break. eventually he found where he was going; the abandoned underground where Derek had let Isaac stay after the incident last night.

He threw the door open and raced down the concrete corridors untill he got to the entrance of Derek's lair, he bounded down the stairs towards the abandoned train carriage.

"Derek! He's dead, my dad, he's dead." He was out of breath now, more because of the panic that was starting to well up inside of him than the miles of running (which he ordinarily would have been quite impressed with)

"What did you do? I said; I didn't want anything to happen to him!" Isaac lunged at the alpha with his claws out and eyes glowing. Derek wrapped his arms around Isaac and redirected the young werewolf to the ground now facing away from himself. "I didn't want this." Isaac sobbed, tears streaming down his face, he was shaking from head to toe in Derek's arms.

"I mean, if half of what I've heard is true then I don't see how this is a bad thing." The sobs were now interspersed with ragged gasps for air. "But no... this wasn't me." He whispered as he continued to half restrain, half comfort his new pack member.

Isaac's eyebrows furrowed, the confusion brought him back momentarily to his senses and he looked up into the werewolf's eyes  
"But it had to be you." he coughed.

"Why?" Derek asked, the mounting confusion evident on his face.

"It was the last thing I heard the cops saying...'He could have used the equipment from his job.' 'last time i checked those things are built to dig graves, not rip the doors clean off a car, deputy.' I thought... with your strength... are there... more? Of us?" Isaac looked terrified.

"Werewolves? There are, but they shouldn't be here in Beacon Hills." Derek seemed lost in thought. "So they think it's you?"

"Not the sheriff, he's keeping them off me for tonight." Isaac explained. Derek released the boy, seeing that he had calmed down now.

"Okay, listen to me very carefully. You're going to go to school tomorrow as usual. You're going to act surprised when you hear what's happened to your dad, but you haven't been home for a few days. You've been at a friends." Derek paused as though he was waiting for something, he lost patience quickly. "Okay?" he eventually prompted.

"Oh... okay." Isaac agreed. "But Derek... What if he is dead? What do I do if my dad really is dead?" Derek couldn't handle the innocent worry in the boys eyes.  
"He... Wasn't good Isaac." Derek couldn't understand why Isaac didn't seem to see that. "Now, there isn't anything in the house that the cops are going to find when they search it is there?"

"The freezer, that's still there."

"The freezer? What are you on about?" Derek asked, his expression puzzled.

"I-I thought you knew. He... would, uhhh, lock me in the freezer, that was the thing that happened the other day. He forgot about it for a day whist I was trapped. It was the longest I'd ever been in there, that's why I was in hospital. I think the lady figured it out, then she told that McCall kid. I guess he was her son or something."

  
"He would lock you in a freezer?!" Derek was trembling with anger. "Then he got what he deserved! If he is alive then he won't be for much longer." Derek's face had morphed, he made to go towards the door his blood red eyes glowed bright in the low light. Isaac's hand shot out to grab the man's wrist.

"Derek, no. If my dad's alive then we... I, need to help him."

"I don't understand. With just what I heard about already I wouldn't have cared if he'd died, but you still wanted to help him even after this?  
He wouldn't throw you a rope if it was the only thing between you and the bottom of the Grand Canyon so why do you care so much?" Derek growled. Isaac paused a while, not sure what to say. "Does it matter?" he eventually went for. The Alpha made to say something, but mid way through he seemed to think of something else. "Wait... did you say McCall?" Derek asked.

"Why?"

"Does Scott know you're a werewolf?"

"It was before that. What do you mean, do you know him?"

"Scott, he was the last werewolf I made before you." Derek explained, his features becoming human again.

"McCall's a werewolf?" Before Isaac could register his confusion, he tilted his head up and to the side. "I mean... that would explain a few things. Like; how he got so good at Lacrosse for a start." he said, one eyebrow raised.

"Did he hurt my dad?" Isaac mused out loud.

"Who? Scott? No, he's not like that. But... if we could get him on side he could help us. The freezer, if the sheriff sees that then they'll have a solid motive for why you'd kill your father. You understand?"

-

Isaac's heart was racing as he got changed ready for practice, Scott was sat only a few meters away seemingly unaware of anything out of the ordinary, Isaac on the other hand could smell the strong scent of werewolf radiating from the boy. He was sure his panic would give it away, any minute now Scott would hear the heavy breathing and the rapid heart beats. He'd turn to look and that's when he'd see him.  
But nothing happened, he seemed deep in conversation with Stalinski.  
Isaac calmed himself and instead tried to focus on what it was the two were talking about. To his horror they were discussing how best to identify the other werewolf on the team.

"Alright you lot! Big game coming up, I don't want to hear excuses; the headmaster's given the orders. if all of you lots grades aren't plaque worthy, you don't get to play! Do I make myself clear?" The coach called out as he walked out of his office. Luckily this meant that the boys had stopped discussing how best to identify wolves, so it was possible that McCall wouldn't try given that he hadn't had a decisive idea from Stalinski. So far all they had was that McCall's friend had gotten him in goal, but in theory there was going to be someone between McCall and the rest of the team, Isaac was hopeful to say the least.

No such luck... Isaac was becoming angry just watching such a stupid plan coming together for the young werewolf. Not only was he the least subtle person in the world, coach also wasn't stopping him, he just stood by as McCall tackled everyone, and obviously sniffed at them. At the very least coach should have checked if the kid was on some sort of drugs. Unfortunately for Isaac this meant that the guy who was supposed to be stood between him and McCall had given up entirely and would now stand and wait for the goalie to charge out.  
Stalinski seemed close to throwing in the towel with how horribly Scott was handling the situation. Isaacs eyes were glowing now, he could feel it; his annoyance at the situation he'd been stuck in, his anger at how ridiculous someone can act and not have anyone say anything. A small, but deep, growl escaped his lips, he could feel the Stalinski kid turn to look at him.

 _Just leave it to your friend McCall, he's already figuring it out and he didn't need to sniff everyone like a dog_. Isaac thought bitterly, annoyed with himself that he could see how obvious this ploy was and he still new he couldn't avoid getting caught by it.

It was his turn now, Stalinski opened his mouth as though he was going to try and stop the situation in front of him from unfolding. It didn't matter, Isaac was angry now, he was ready. He didn't care.

 _So what if he knows?_ He thought.

With that he charged towards the werewolf at full speed. If he was going to get caught like this he at least wanted to have it somewhat on his terms. He barred his teeth at the moment of impact. The sound was impressing, it was like someone had thrown two padded statues together, Isaac would let himself worry about that later.

"Dude. Your eyes!" McCall whispered forcefully. Isaac had all but forgotten about them at this point, he blinked them away in time to hear a commotion by the edge of the field. There was a group of around four or five officers and at the head of them the sheriff was talking to a very sullen looking Coach.

"Do you, ahh... Think you could call him over for us Coach?" His worry was etched on to his stress-worn face, as an expression that was very much 'I have my duties...but boy do they suck sometimes.'  
Coach was always quite expressive, but he looked genuinely concerned this time. He nodded and turned to face the pitch.

Isaac, in his panic turned to face McCall.  
"Don't tell them." He insisted as he stood up to answer when Coach called his name. Derek had said act surprised, but honestly the reaction was going to be somewhat genuine; he had no idea whether his father was alive or not. All he knew was that something bad had happened.

He approached the sheriff wearily, the shorter man rubbed his eyes with his free hand, the other held papers, his eyes were red probably from late nights and stress. He walked over to Isaac.

"Come here son." He gestured for Isaac to come closer. "This isn't going to be easy kid... at around midday yesterday we identified a car wreck as belonging to... your father. Our forensics team confirmed that the large amount of blood in the vehicle was your fathers... we, uhh-" he looked around nervously. "-we don't believe he made it. We haven't found a-... him yet. But we don't expect to find him alive either." he finished looking braced for a bad reaction from Isaac. Instead he just stood, stunned, unable to find anything to say.  
The sheriff glanced at the officer stood nearest, seemed to judge that they couldn't hear, and stood a little closer.

"Listen, the thing is...we're going to have to take you in, it's the rumors, and a witness statement that claims they saw you and your dad fighting that night. I didn't say this but, if you claimed self-defence I'm sure we'd have all the evidence to support you. We could try an-an-and get you something, a pardon or something." the older man stumbled over his words, clearly wracked with emotion.

"I appreciate it sheriff, but I didn't do it. I'd have to produce a body for that, but i don't know where he is." Isaac felt hollow, he knew the sheriff was just trying to help but if even this man was convinced enough to try and help him with a self-defence plee, as though there was no other option available, like for some reason there was no moment in this whole thing where someone sat back and considered the possiblity that maybe he wasn't guilty.  
The sheriff looked devestated, he hung his head for a moment looking at the papers in his hand.

"Okay... then you know I'm going to have to ask you to come with me to the station?"He strained to say. Isaac nodded, he glanced back at McCall who was busy filling the sheriffs son in on what was going on, he looked worried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always. please leave a comment. just anything you though whilst reading this really


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